Investing.com-- Shares of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (TYO:7201) fell sharply on Wednesday after Young Liu, chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (TW:2317) ( Foxconn (SS:601138)), said that the electronics giant was seeking cooperation with the Japanese automaker, rather than ownership.
Nissan’s shares tumbled 6.8% to 412.4 yen in Tokyo trade.
Liu said Foxconn was not seeking to buy Nissan (OTC:NSANY), but was interested in a partnership with the Japanese automaker. Liu also flagged talks with Renault SA (EPA:RENA), given that the company has an ownership stake in Nissan, Reuters reported.
A Foxconn takeover could offer a lifeline to Nissan, which has been grappling with rapidly declining global sales amid tight competition from Chinese EV makers and dwindling automobile demand in its key markets.
Reports last week said Nissan had backed out of a merger with Honda (NYSE:HMC) in opposition of becoming a subsidiary of its bigger Japanese peer. Other reports showed that Foxconn was now considering taking a stake in Nissan after the Honda deal failed.
Foxconn had earlier expressed interest in Nissan, with the likely goal of leveraging the automaker’s expertise in manufacturing its own EVs.
The Taiwanese company is the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer, and is a key supplier for technology majors such as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).